Some of my corporate law professor colleagues are studying the role of angel investors in the entrepreneurial economy. So far, the findings are no surprise: There isn't a lot of systematic research done on angels (for example, researchers don't have a standard definition of what an "angel" is), so no one knows much about exactly how they work, what value they contribute, or whether public policy should find ways to encourage them (or discourage them).

Read these two posts over at the Conglomerate blog for more details: One, and two.

So what? Anecdotally speaking, startup funding in Western PA depends heavily on angels and angel networks -- so much so that when the angels get cold feet, the startup economy gets the flu. Maybe (hopefully?) this isn't as true today as it was a short time ago. The research question is whether there is anything that public policy can do about it.